Cities Settle Suits Over Hyperion Plant

El Segundo officials say they are delighted with a court settlement reached this week with the city of Los Angeles over the upgrading of the Hyperion sewage plant in Playa del Rey.

“I see a real spirit of cooperation on Los Angeles’ side,” said El Segundo Councilwoman Janice Cruikshank. “And, boy, I appreciate it because the attitude was not like that up until the last month.”

Under the terms of the agreement, which settles two suits El Segundo brought against Los Angeles in 1990 and 1991, Los Angeles will pay up to $140,000 a year for an independent consultant to monitor the upgrading of the plant and to mitigate such troublesome factors as noise, odors and emissions.

The consultant will be selected by El Segundo officials.

For its part, El Segundo agrees not to file any more suits against Los Angeles through 1998. The total cost of the settlement to Los Angeles is an estimated $1.4 million.

When it is upgraded, the sewage plant will provide more intensive treatment to the 450 million gallons of sewage it processes each day.

If El Segundo and Los Angeles fail to work out any problems that arise while the plant is being upgraded over the next six years, the settlement provides for a court-appointed referee to settle matters.

El Segundo City Attorney Leland Dolley called the settlement “a harbinger of a new era of cooperation.”